Negitoro Friendship
by PastellPop
Summary: Miku Luka fluffy fic, originally going to be a one-shot, but this will comtinue and be a fluffy series about their friendship. x Aspiring singers Miku and Luka ended up meeting over a piece of sushi. They find out they live in the same apartment, and from there, they form a friendship that brings fun and joy to both their lives. Might turn into romance, if I get that far
1. Chapter 1

In the cozy little sushi restaurant on the edge of a quaint and pretty road, there were stands filled with colorful sushi of many different types.

On the very edge of the stand at the far end of the restaurant, sat a single scrumptious, mouthwatering, sparkling piece of negitoro sushi. Rich red tuna with ripe green leek decorated it's juicy center as it waited for a hungry visitor to claim and eat it.

Click, clack! The sounds of two pairs of shoes racing to claim the last piece of negitoro were heard throughout the quiet building. One of the sounds were of clattering dress shoes, the other sound was the quieter tromping of winter boots.

"Got it!"

Two voices rang in unison as two pairs of chopsticks grabbed at the one piece of negitoro.

Suddenly only inches away from another girl they've never seen before, the two grew startled and slowly glanced into each other's face.

The shorter girl tugged harder on her chopsticks and the taller girl began pulling hers higher.

"It's mine!" The shorter girl grunted. She wanted the leek part more than anything.

"No, it's mine! I like it more!" The taller girl's face began turning red. She wanted the tuna part more than anything.

Suddenly, the little piece of sushi could no longer take the pressure of the chopsticks and shot right up into the air, before plummeting right towards the ground.

"Nooooo!"

Luka, the taller girl, flinched in horror. Miku, the short girl with the pigtails, dove frantically down to her side. At the same moment she dropped her empty plate, which landed on the hard wood floor and wobbled. The negitoro fell right onto the wobbling plate and flew up into the air again due to the plate's unbalance.

Miku squealed and Luka whimpered.

"Flyaway sushi!"

The negitoro was flying all the way to the other side of the restaurant. Miku and Luka scrambled erratically in that direction, holding their plates right out in front of them so either one of them could catch the flying sushi.

Right at that moment, a costomer opened the front door. A strong, chilly November gust of wind rushed through the opening and in a whim, it blew the negitoro back in the girls' direction.

"I've got it..."

They were standing close together, yet it was heading straight for the gap right between them.

Both girls held their palms out to their sides, their hands now touching, slightly layering over each others'.

The flying, windblown sushi piece finally landed for sure, right in between both of the girls' hands. A miracle catch. A perfect half had been caught on Miku's palm, and the other half on Luka's.

The two girls lowered their faces to look at the unharmed sushi for a moment in awe. Their hands were conjoined and thanks to that, the negitoro didn't fall onto the floor. They slowly closed their hands and fit them into each other to secure the piece of sushi, not realizing this now meant they were holding hands.

They slowly afterwards looked into each other's faces.

"I'm sorry." they said in unison.

"I'm sorry for trying to take it away when it was obviously yours. You can have it." Miku said, remorse in her large eyes.

Luka, feeling as if it wasn't hers in the first place, replied with "No, it's all yours. I'm the one who's sorry."

Miku shook her head, making her long pigtails dance and swish around her sides. "No, it's yours."

Luka sternly shook her head at Miku, her long pink hair stroking her back.

"You can have it."

"No, YOU can have it!"

"No, it is yours!"

After a bit of an arguement, the girls realized the piece of negitoro was getting a bit old and needed to be eaten quickly.

"Fine then... how about we split it between us?" Miku suggested. "I know it's a small piece, but it seems like the only way we can settle this."

Luka nodded. "That's fine." she said.

"Excuse me..." Miku politely said. "Not to sound demanding, but can my half be the half with the leeks? I adore negitoro, and the leek is my favorite part."

Luka looked at Miku and slowly smiled.

"It's okay." she agreed nicely. "Negitoro is one of my favorite foods too. I enjoy the tuna part."

Miku smiled back.

The atmosphere of the small building was cozyーwarm and fuzzy even. Colorful dim light shone from the ceiling and the warmth from the heaters shielded both girls from the bitter cold outside. Cheerful music quietly drifted in from the speakers and people's chattering kept the place feeling alive. In the middle of what seemed to be an early winter, such a haven-like environment would be a tough one to want to leave.

At a table together next to each other, Miku and Luka split apart the small piece of negitoro and ate it before any of the other sushi they had brought back on their plates. The piece simply melted away in their mouths.

They were sitting at the same table together now, which seemed okay with both of them.

"That was somehow more delicious than anything I'd ever eaten!" Miku cheerfully sang. Luka smiled calmly, nodding back at her. "I guess sharing things isn't so bad!"

Luka nodded. Somehow, this negitoro had felt special to eat. She was somehow savoring it more.

"So," Miku asked, "What's your name?"

Luka's cheeks instantly turned a bit red and her light blue pupils expanded. This girl wanted to get to know her? Introducing herself made Luka feel a little bit shy. She took in a breath and did it anyway.

"My name is Luka." she said demurely, attempting a kind smile. "Luka Megurine..."

"That's a pretty name." Miku replied. Her little smile gave Luka butterflies. It was so friendly and cheerful.

"My name is Miku Hatsune. You can call me Magical Miku!" She raised her hand in a peace sign. "Just joking, haha. Just 'Miku' is fine!"

Miku wanted to continue the conversation, but she suddenly ran out of things to say to Luka, who seemed bashful. She decided to start by saying something random.

"So, Luka. Um... it's nice to meet you! It seems you really like tuna."

Indeed, most of the sushi piled up on Luka's plate contained raw tuna.

Luka blushed a little, not knowing how to react.

"Um... nice to meet you too, I guess. Miku..."

It felt a little bit odd for Luka to be saying someone's name. They had just met, yet Miku already talked so comfortably to Luka. Luka was afraid of coming off as aloof, which she seemed to always do.

She took another bite of a tuna roll.

"Um... are you fine with me... staying here?" Luka once she swallowed. "I mean, sitting at the same table?"

Miku's mouth fell open.

"Of course! Sure! We're friends after all!"

Luka's heart skipped a beat. Friends... did she just say "friend"? She couldn't believe it. Luka had had a hard time making friends with the others in her school due to coming off as so cold or "icy".

The shock of the word made Luka bashfully bury her face in her hands.

"Luka... are you okay?" Miku squeaked. Her voice was high-pitched and cute.

"Miku... why are we friends?" Luka asked, cupping her hands to her mouth bashfully.

"Well..." Miku began to rub Luka's shoulder, covered by a warm sweater. "I think we made friends over a negitoro. But that's okay, because friendships can blossom from anywhere! As long as the two people like being with each other, any kind of friendship is wonderful, isn't it?"

Luka began blushing even deeper. Miku was so fast to start liking others.

"Miku... thank you. For being my friend I guess." she muttered, the words clumsily falling out of her mouth. "And I-I guess I like being with you too...?"

"Aww..." Miku gave a sappy smile. "You're so soft and fluffy Luka!" she loosely embraced Luka's warm arm, causing Luka to squeak a little.

"I already like you, Luka. You're really nice! At first, I thought you looked kind of scary. Maybe it was because you were so tall, and I thought you were going to take away my negitoro!"

Luka buried her face in her hands again. So even Miku thought she looked scary... she had eyes which everyone thought looked icy and sharp like the arctic. She could never smile right and always wore a scowl. Everyone misunderstood her for it.

"Aah! Sorry Luka!" Miku flailed, her voice rising an octave. "I don't think you're scary NOW, Luka! I promise! I even want to know your cell phone number and where you live so I can talk to you more!"

"Aah..." Luka decided it was becoming hard to keep up with Miku. She was so friendly and outgoing! It wasn't something that the withdrawn Luka was used to.

"Well, my cell phone is in my pocket. Hold on a second... as for where I live, I'm staying at Seabreeze apartment complex..."

Luka was interrupted by an elated gasp from next to her.

"No way!" Miku spread her hand over her mouth. "I live at Seabreeze also! Oh my gosh, we live in the same apartment! Are you a college student too?"

"Ah, yes..." Luka replied, "I'm in my first year..."

"Me too..." Miku started. "Wait, what!? You too? You look so mature that I had thought you were much older than me, maybe twenty-three!"

Luka felt dumbfounded. She was only eighteen! Plus, Miku was a kid too. Why had she been so excited about becoming friends with someone she thought was a twenty-three year old office lady, anyway?

Luka couldn't help but to laugh.

"Luka, you're laughing!" Miku laughed back at her.

"I'm only eighteen! Haha... you're too funny, Miku!" Instead of turning red, Luka's face became a cheerful shade of pink.

* * *

Afterwards, they exchanged cell-phone numbers, and had a lively conversation about the kinds of foods they liked. In the middle of it, Miku pulled out her own cell phone and took a picture of Luka.

The picture was a little embarrassing, as Luka's face wasn't ready for the camera, her mouth was half-open and she was holding her chopsticks to her front, but Miku thought it was a cute picture nonetheless.

"I want a picture of each and every friend I make inside my phone!" she told her. "Well, welcome to my cell phone, Luka!"

Luka eventually told Miku that she was studying abroad from Europe, and Miku had told Luka that she was studying abroad from Japan.

"You speak English really well for someone from Belgium." Miku said, bewildered.

"Oh. You're English is very good, for someone from Japan. I had thought that you always lived in America."

"Oh, same here to be honest, haha."

They learned quite a lot about each other.

After they finished their meal, the two left the restaurant together and walked home together in the frigid cold.

"It's really chilly outside, isn't it? Especially only for mid-November."

"It is quite chilly." Luka answered. She had a habit of looking at the ground when she walked, but this time, she tried mustering the courage and comfort to look straight ahead at Miku's face.

After a while of walking aside to their apartments, Luka noticed Miku was shivering more than she was. Miku didn't have a scarf around her neck, which was exposed and looked as if it were vulnerable and bitterly cold.

"Um, Miku..." Luka mumbled and shyly tugged at her own scarf, pondering on whether she should let Miku wear it.

"Miku... you seem cold. Would you like to borrow my scarf?" Luka pulled it out and offered with a sheepish smile.

"Thank you..." Miku said.

She approached Luka and pulled the scarf halfway around her neck. Miku walked towards the warm girl and wrapped her fuzzy white scarf halfway around her neck, still leaving some of the scarf behind on Luka's body.

"Ah, It's fine, Miku... you can take all of it. I don't really need it that much."

Miku shook her head and got all comfy in the warm scarf they were sharing.

"No thanks. I'd rather share it between us. Things feel much more special when they're being shared with a friend, don't you think?"

Miku smiled right into Luka's face with her wide emerald eyes. They shone, and Luka felt uplifted just looking in them.

"Yes, I guess you are right, Miku. This feels quite cozy."

They walked along with smiles on their faces when a single snowflake fell right into Miku's palm as if she were controlling it. She saw it's intricate crystal pattern right before it melted into her warmth.

"Hm? Oh, it's snowing, Luka!"

The pigtailed girl lifted her face to the sky in time to see the first light crystals of snow dallying and swirling through the sky and all around them.

"Indeed." Luka calmly took in the view as well.

"I love snow..." Miku mused. "It makes me feel so floaty inside, as if I could become as light and free as the flakes..."

Miku lifted her hands to the sky, opened her mouth to try to catch them on her tongue and Luka giggled. Miku was endearing, she was like a kid!

"It just makes me want to sing." Miku said. She strolled to a pause at the empty edge of the quaint road, and Luka paused also.

Miku looked up into the air, held both gloved hands to her heart, and started singing a cheerful song. Her voice was smooth and graceful, soaring in the wind and resonating with the falling snowflakes. It was a song Luka had heard before, called Song of Snowflakes.

From that one sole moment, Luka now knew. She discovered who Miku truly was, just listening to her merry voice and her uplifting song. Her heart fluttered. Miku was a bright, caring and cheerful spirit who saw positive things and magic in everyday life. Carrying a smile all around, turning every mundane event in something special, and ever stranger into a friend...

Exactly the kind of bright, cheerful person person Luka once aspired to become. It was her dream from long ago that she had abandoned and completely forgotten about. She suddenly remembered all her old feelings again and felt something tug inside her heart.

Enthralled by having met such a friend today, Luka smiled wide, put her hand in Miku's, looked up at the sky and began singing as well, along to Miku's song. For this little moment, her shyness had completely flown over her head, vanishing with Miku's bliss and the magical surroundings of flittering falling flakes. Luka simply felt reborn with a rekindled dreaming spirit.

Luka's singing voice was rich and had a mature sound to it, almost like the voice of a classical singer's. She started out softly, but she sang progressively louder and with more emotion as the felt more and more euphoria encompass her.

Miku's drifting, closing eyes shot wide open once Luka sang out and performed a powerful note with vibrato. It resonated with such sophistication and magnificence, one could tell that Luka had been trained in singing for a while.

Once the tall woman noticed Miku's gaze, she blushed again and bashfully hid half her face into the scarf.

Miku silently 'wow'ed, then began clapping and cheering.

"Aaah, bravo! Bravo, Luka! That was amazing!"

The taller girl sheepishly removed the scarf from her face and looked straight towards Miku. Her face was so... cheerful.

"So you sing too?" Miku asked with eyes that were growing large like marbles. "I've never known that about you! Well, so do I! I'm a singer... not as good as you."

With her cheeks still red, Luka turned to the smaller girl and smiled.

"You are a good singer, Miku. You impressed me. Not only that, but you have the ability to immerse people, you know. To make them... happy."

"Luka... r-really?" Miku's smile became sentimental. "You're too kind... thank you so much!"

The two girls had finished their stroll out of the empty shipping square, and their quiet apartment complex was now in view.

"You know, I've always wanted to have a partner in singing." Miku said.. "And now I met a such nice friend who lives in my apartment, with an amazing voice as well... I want for you to be the partner I've always wanted! I want to be part of a duo! Not only that, but I think we're going to become best friends!"

Luka, thou thoroughly flattered, had been put right on the spot. Truthfully to her, being in a duo didn't sound like a bad thing, not at all. In fact, it was something she secretly always wanted to do to come out of her shell. Luka remembered the reason she wanted to become a singer in the first place; to make friends and to sing with them too. To put smiles on people's faces...

Miku was the one that had made her remember that.

Suddenly, she felt a tingle of bliss fall over her.

"Miku..." she said fondly. "I would... love to!"

"Yaaay!" Miku pulled Luka's hands into hers and danced around the cold pavement, her dress shoes making a friendly clattering sound.

Luka jumped for joy as well, for the heck of it. Today had been a great day already.

"So, what should we call our group?"

The two started walking again, not minding that snowflakes were falling heavier, sliding off their hair and melting into their jackets.

Luka was thinking long and hard, and so was Miku.

"Ah! I've got the perfect name!" Miku chimed. "Negitoro!"

Luka fought back a mighty laugh, almost falling over in the process.

"We're naming our group after the sushi we became friends over?" Luka laughed.

"Well, yeah! It fits us perfectly, dont'cha think? Plus you love tuna and I love leeks! Negitoro is made of tuna and leeks! See?"

"Well... I guess, I do admit its a catchy name." Luka said. "Oh, well. We're not famous yet or anything, so Negitoro will certainly do for now!"

"Yay! Hey Luka, since we live so close together... well, first of all, do you have time today? Do you want to visit my apartment room? I live alone, but I have a pet rabbit, and a lot of karaoke and recording stuff! In fact, I do covers of songs I like, and I'm even thinking about making music videos. And now that I have you, I'm going to have a thousand times as more fun doing it! So, Luka. Have you ever recorded before?

Luka shook her head. "No, I merely only sing when I'm in the mood. But I do have time today and would love to visit you..."

She just met a friend, and already she was going to visit her house? Luka felt excited and gleeful inside. Plus she was going to make music videos with this girl? Oh... this is too much excitement for one day!

"Hey, um... thanks for inviting me over, Miku." she said, embarrassedly hiding the butterflies in her stomach.

"Hey, it's my pleasure!" Miku said back, smiling.

The two were almost back at their apartment complex now, heading into the direction of Miku's building.

Suddenly, Luka blushed. She promptly had just realized that she was still sharing a scarf with Miku.

"Oh yeah... I forgot all about it... We're currently sharing a scarf." she whispered.

"Gee Luka, you sure blush a lot." Miku giggled, Making Luka jolt a bit. She saw her blushinf?

"You don't have to by shy around me, I mean it." Miku reassured. Her smile had to have been the brightest thing Luka had saw all day.

"Oh... alright, M-Miku..."

...

...

* * *

**A/N**:

Don't ask how that piece of negitoro managed to defy gravity at the beginning. It's because negitoro are magical. They can fly. Or because this story is planned on having more silly whimsical moments like that. I'm just that kind of person.

In case you didn't know, Negitoro is sushi that contains both leek and tuna in it~

I FEEL LIKE THIS CHAPTER IS CRAP I DON'T KNOW HOW TO NEGITORO. SORRY IT'S JUST FRIENDSHIP BUT TO BE HONEST I LIKE IT MORE THAN ROMANCE-/*sobbu*

...Sooo, I guss I ship Negitoro (Miku x Luka)? I mean I ship LukaxTeto and LenxMiku too, but I can't resist these two together either . Plus it actually has a fandom, it's so rare that I ship something that actually has a fandom.

This was originally going to be a fluffy one-shot but it ended up being something that might as well be continued. So I will continue it.


	2. Chapter 2

"Living on my own is fun." Miku said right outside of their quaint pink-painted building. "It's a little scary I guess. And a little lonely. But it's like going on an adventure! I get to do anything I want, first of all."

Luka nodded, noticing that Miku was quite talkative and had taken off into a ramble.

"Don't you think so, Luka?" Miku asked, poking at her friend's jacket-covered shoulder.

"It's... okay." Luka said, unenthusiastically. She thought living alone was scary and lonely just as Miku had said. Except to her, not as fun.

As they entered the lobby of Seabreeze's north apartment building, the two were greeted by a familiar fresh smell.

They took it in... a dry, succulent, lightly seasoned scent. The very distinct scent of...

"_Negitoro_!" they eyed and beamed in unison.

In the corner of the lobby, a man with straight blond hair stood behind a stand, handing out extra-fresh samples of the splendidly rich raw fish. The tuna was wrapped up in cylindrical rolls with sticky white rice, lush salted seaweed, and the perfect flavorful topping of emerald-green leek.

"Free negitoro samples!" Miku cheered, feeling sparks run through her.

"I certainly want more!" Luka chimed in, enchanted by the aura of mouthwatering tuna lingering all around the cheerfully-lit lobby.

The two raced over to the corner with blissfully goofy smiles on their rosy, flowery faces. They smiled wide at the sampler man, politely and elatedly took their negitoro sample, stood at the corner together and gobbled it up.

All four flavors melded together and spread out across their tastebuds in the most divine of sweet, sweet harmonies. The deluxe flavor lingered in their senses and was begging them, beseeching for them to eat more.

"That was great..." Miku waltzed around the floor in dizzy euphoria, "But I want moooooooore!"

"Me too!" Luka moaned, her mouth still watering. "But we probably can only take one free sample each."

"Aaaaaah!" Both girls romped around the floor as if they were being tickled by angels.

After a bout of thinking, Luka talked again.

"I have an idea. Miku... I'm going to get us more."

"Hm?" Miku, with her wide aqua eyes resembling two globes, eyed her taller friend curiously.

Luka bashfully took a pair of dark sunglasses out of her pocket and slid them onto her slender face. She took the hair tie around her wrist and tied her long salmon-colored hair into a bun. Miku thought instinctively that Luka's hair bun resembled one of those cooked salmon buns.

"Miku, if you switch your jacket with mine, I'll look different enough." Luka said, in a sudden serious flat tone. "I will disguise as a different person to get us more negitoro."

Miku eyed her friend in bewilderment.

"Wow..." she thought. "This girl would do anything for negitoro." she said.

"Okay, I approve of this plan!" Miku, bursting into a fit of quiet giggles, slipped off her jacket and handed it to Luka.

A smile spread on the small girl's lips. "I've found my partner-in-crime! Go Luka!"

Luka lifted her sunglasses down and gave Miku a sly, corresponding grin.

"Wow..." Miku blushed for just a second. "She... looked so cool."

Luka, in a fashion most unlike the way she first danced up to get her sushi, was now walking sleekly up to the stand with a completely different spicy attitude.

She immediately looked like a completely different person, plus the sunglasses his her face and her conspicuously icy eyes as well.

"Hello." Luka tilted her sunglasses a tiny crack, seductively eyeing the man at the stand with an attitude her normal persona had nowhere inside of her. She wanted to make a hundred percent sure that she was passing as somebody different.

"Haven't... I seen you before?" the man asked, his blond eyebrows lifting up.

Luka shook her head nonchalantly and tilted the sunglasses again. She lowered her voice to a husky, womanly octave.

"I reckon you have mistaken me for someone?"

She curved her body and leaned her hip against the wall as she brushed her forehead with her slender, black, gloved fingers.

"Mm... looks delicious. Mind giving me a sample of that?"

Miku's eyes expanded as she watched as how Luka was acting. She had acting skills! Her entire aura had changed and Miku was now unsure that the sexy dynamite at the stand was even her friend, Luka.

"Luka can sing, but... now she can act?" her cheeks turned red.

Once Luka recieved her negitoro, she ran back and gave two to Miku, and two for herself.

Luka bit into hers seductively... and once she was sure that the man at the stand wasn't looking, she ripped off her sunglasses, gave Miku a cheerful smile, and at an instant returned back to her normal self.

"I managed to charm him." Luka said, her cheeks turning pink. "I said I was going to give one to my friend, and he gave me four!"

Miku burst into squeaky laughter and pat her friends shoulder.

"Great job, Luka!"

The two gobbled up their delicious negitoro the same way, and yet they still yearned for even more of it.

"Luka, I almost forgot to show you the secret box of disguises!" Miku said, looking into the corner.

In the other corner of the lobby, behind a grand piano, was a spotty polka-dotty big box of dreams. Or it looked something like that. It said "Dress Up" in a bright colorful font and letters.

"It's just a dress-up box. I donated it to the lobby so that kids can play dress-up down here! I'm sure we can get lots more negitoro with all the disguises we can pull off with it..."

So and therefore, the two friends then disguised themselves many times, each time getting a negitoro each until they were both full.

Miku wore a baker's hat, a mustache, and a apron, becoming a chef. At the stand, she put on a act and said she was going to critique the negitoro. After she critiqued it as "absolutely positively magically delicious and the enchanting flavor just melts in my mouth and aaaah", she gained more free samples as a thank-you gift. (She shared them with Luka and gobbled them up again.)

Luka put on a pirate's cap, an eyepatch, and a ripped dress, becoming a pirate. She told the man that she (shiver me timbers!) was sailing the seven seas (aargh!) in search of a(n aargh!) tuna, but with no luck. Out of pity (and intimidation) for the poor pink-haired pirate, the man gave her half the plate of samples (which she shared with Miku and inhaled them as if they were vacuums. Though of course they also savored the flavor.)

Eventually, the two were almost full, and they also had only one set of disguises left.

"There's 3D glasses, a bunny mask, a maid outfit..." Miku pondered through the pile.

"I have no idea what we're going to do with these." Luka said, lifting up a hamburger hat.

Eventually, they decided on their master plan.

"We are the bunny gangsters!" Miku and Luka yelled in unison as they did dynamic jumps all the way to the sample stand. They were wearing the most ridiculous clothes in the universe, but that only made them look much more intimidating, right?

Miku, with an angry expression drawn on her bunny mask, pulled a pink star wand out from her pocket, pointing it directly at the man's face. She pressed the button in the middle and the wand made a silly sparkly sound.

"Give us all of your negitoro." she brooded, in the most intimidating tone she could pull off. (which was oddly very intimidating for someone like Miku.)

Luka was in the background wearing a maid outfit and with a hamburger hat on her head, howling in the background to increase the tension.

"You guys are scaring me..." The man's eyes began twitching. "What's with all these kids I've seen today begging for negitoro?"

The guy became more and more irritable until he growled aloud.

"I SURRENDER ALL THE NEGITORO!" he stuck his hands up in the air and dashed away, leaving behind an entire plate full of the succulent treats.

Miku and Luka eyed each other, eyed the negitoro, and began to eat it.

"I feel a little guilty." whispered Miku.

Luka nodded solemnly.

"Negitoro... it's the best." Miku said softly. "But we got a little carried away..."

"And we look silly." Luka added. She took the hamburger cap off her head.

Both girls sighed.

"Maybe we'll leave him a tip." Miku said.

"Good idea." Luka slowly nodded.

A combined amount of eight dollars out of the wallets of both felt like a sufficient enough apology.

"But we did make a funny memory. You are a great partner in crime, Luka." Miku said, once they walked out of the lobby and up the stairs.

Since Miku's room was only on the third floor, they decided they could simply take the steps. It was also an exercise to walk off all of the sushi they had eaten that day.

"I live on the eighth floor of the building." Luka said, with a shiver crawling through her.

"The eighth floor... is uncomfortable. The paint peels and everything is grey... the corners creak and are dusty with age and I feel the shaking of the building in the wind. Especially at night, the eighth floor is scary."

"Aww... Luka, are you afraid of the eighth floor?" Miku sympathetically said.

Luka bashfully nodded.

"It's childish of me, I know." She muttered, her tall body slumping a bit.

Miku shook her head.

"I do not think its childish! I'm sorry you had to move in the eighth floor! I'll always be happy to keep you company if being alone up there becomes unsettling. Always remember, we're living in the same building!" Miku smiled.

Luka smiled back and slipped her hand in Miku's.

"We're almost at my room."

They had finished climbing up the stairwells and were walking through floor three's cozy, turquoise-carpeted hallsーa significant difference from the eighth floor's unsettling air.

Miku pulled out her keys, and on room 308 she unlocked the door and had Luka step inside.

Miku's room wafted with a comforting feeling. The interior glowed with warm colors and felt as if it contained the company of more than just one person. But it was Miku's room which she lived alone in. It had a nice flowery scent of a well-kept home.

Luka stepped inside, feeling already welcome. A small grey animal was soon at her feet, making her flinch a bit in surprise. It looked at her with its big black eyes and twitched its fuzzy little nose.

"Oh, Luka. That's my rabbit, Mimiko!" Miku kneeled down to the blue carpet to pet the bunny as it cuddled up to her gentle hand and closed its small eyes.

"She's friendly. You should try petting her."

Luka kneeled a bit timidly, took her hand gently and apprehensively stroked the rabbit's fur. It was soft and fluffy and Luka soon couldn't stop feeling it. She was petting a real-live animal. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"She's soft, huh?"

Luka only blushed and didn't respond. For almost a minute, with Miku watching with a smile the whole time, she pet and pet Mimiko. The bunny began to curl up and squeak softly, closing its little eyes.

"I think she likes you, Luka." Miku said.

Luka became a little embarrassed, yet she smiled and kept petting the rabbit with her kind expression.

Mimiko suddenly jolted up and began spinning around the floor on her little bunny feet. Luka was startled.

"That's just Mimi's way of showing she's happy!" Miku said. "Mimiko, this is my new friend, Luka."

Mimiko continued to prance around the floor as Luka watched it.

"Come on Luka, let me show you my special magical room."

Miku took the rabbit, patted her, and lifted her back into her large cage.

Across from Miku's rather normal-looking living room was a whole other world... Miku led Luka there, and the place mesmerized her. It looked like a studio, complete with a karaoke machine with lights, microphones, and a large stereo. It was hooked up to a TV screen, implying that one would be able to record right onto the TV. Not to mention, there was another spotty-polka-dotty-big-box-of-dreams in the corner, larger than the one in the lobby. Miku must really love to dress up!

"Luka!" Miku called her name as she was looking around bewildered. "You want to meet the rest of my friends? Well, I got a video mail from back home right before I was leaving to go to the restaurant... I was going to watch it right when I got back. So... want to watch it with me? You'd get to meet my friends from back home!"

Luka, feeling intrigued, nodded.

Miku put the video into her TV screen, and the video started playing. The background was a autumn-colored backyard lined with tall trees. Three girls appeared on the screen and started waving.

"Hello, Miku!" They sang in unison, smiling.

One of the girls had wavy verdant hair almost resembling twisting vines. She was in the middle, with a bright smile and a lush green dress draped over her tanned body.

The tallest of the three stood at the right. Her hair was shockingly white like snow, held back in a low ponytail. Her clothes were rather slack and casual and her smile was welcoming, yet coy.

The smallest of the three had sunshine-yellow hair, cut short. Her clothes were cute and her orange hoodie had a little yellow chick printed on it. Her smile looked sweet yet feisty.

"Luka, those are my friends, Gumi, Haku and Rin!" she said, pointing to them respectively, in order.

"Miku, how are you doing?" Gumi asked.

"I'm doing great!" Miku talked back to the video, even though she knew they wouldn't be able to hear her.

"We really miss you, Miku! I hope you're doing great!" Haku waved.

"Miku, I have funny news for you!" Rin said. "We were watching Finding Memo together and Haku started crying at it!"

"Oh, Rin... Oh, Haku." Miku commented.

"Rin, that isn't funny! That movie was sad!" shy Haku suddenly snapped and ran to the small girl as she chuckled and ran off screen.

"Heh..." Gumi was now alone in the center, awkwardly laughing. "As you can see, we all miss you and everything's been keeping up the way it has. And, wait..."

Gumi lifted up a white cat to the camera.

"Snowbell misses you!"

Meow! The kitten mewed.

"That's Haku's cat." Miku mentioned to Luka.

Haku and Rin ran back on screen, and Gumi lifted the kitten back into Haku's arms where it comfortably was held.

Gumi showed Miku one of her new drawings, and Haku recited a poem she wrote about autumn. Rin showed Miku a new dance she came up with.

"You and your friends are so talented, Miku..." Luka mentioned.

"Goodbye Miku!" Everyone waved at the camera and Miku said good-bye right back at the screen. The video faded away and ended.

"Oh..." Luka mumbled to herself.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Miku eyed Luka.

"Me... I didn't have any friends back at home." Luka started saying, out of her train of thought. "It started when I was little. I was quiet and very shy because people teased me. I never broke out of my shell, not even now..."

"Aww..." Miku inched up to Luka and gave her a hug, sending soothing chills down Luka's spine.

"Luka, I'm here now! Miku's here always, you don't need to be alone anymore."

"Miku... thanks." Luka felt a small bit emotional.

She just realized now that Miku had removed her brown headband and stuck bunny ears on her during the time she hugged her. She blushed once she noticed they were on her head.

"You remind me of a bunny, Luka." Miku said, hugging her in a gentle embrace. She stroked her long soft hair.

Bashful Luka wanted to wriggle free from Miku's grasp, but it felt strangely soothing and really comfy.

"Bunny Luka." Miku cuddled close to her. She was warm.

"We just met today... didn't we?" Luka was turning red from embarrassment yet she strangely couldn't break free from Miku.

"And why would I remind her of a bunny anyway?" Luka thought. "I'm not small and I'm not cute. But... Miku is."

Luka found herself giggling a tiny bit.

"You remind me of a bunny too, Miku." she said, rubbing her cheek on Miku's shoulder.

"Heehee... aaaah, eating negitoro makes me sleepy..." Miku squeaked. "Lukaaa, let's take a bunny nap together... Lukaaaaa."

Miku's eyes were fluttering shut and her grip loosened,

"But Miku, I'm not tired..." Luka said.

"Aw, it's okay. I can stay up... I think." Miku let go of Luka and sat up straight. "Oof..."

"Miku, I have an idea..." Luka said.

"Hm?"

"Maybe... your friends can meet me? We could send a video mail back to them. You have a lot of recording equipment, right?"

"Yeah!" Miku cheered. "We can show them Negitoro! I mean our duo of you and I! Quick, maybe we'll come up with our first single and send it to them!"

"But I... a simple hello will be enough." Luka negotiated.

"Come on Luka! They showed us a fancy video filled with dancing and art, we should make a video showing our talents... and YOUR talent, Luka! Plus, you looked really cute in the maid outfit, so you could wear that in the video!"

"But I..."

"Come on Luka, let's write Negitoro's first single! You seem like someone who'd be good at songwriting!"

"But Miku... really, I'm not..."

Luka felt overwhelmed by Miku's spontaneousness, yet she felt that they were already becoming best friends.


End file.
